Please Talk to Me
by The Protector of Light
Summary: (Non-canon ship: don't like don't read) After avoiding Luke since high school, Chase finally gives up and allows their friendship to resurface. But with an incident force the reunion into something more?
1. Chapter 1

Please Talk to Me

_((Author's note: Hello! I interrupt my usual string of Kingdom Hearts fanfics in order to bring you this adorable Harvest Moon: Animal Parade one that has been flowing from my mind for the past week. So enjoy this fairly light hearted one called 'Please Talk to Me.'))_

Chapter 1

_He_ sat there, just yards away, at one of the tables in the bar. He was talking to Kathy as she tried to flirt with the oblivious idiot. Chase tried not to glare at the scene from the kitchen, turning back to his work of cooking food for the guests at the bar… not that anyone was ordering food at the moment. Or very often at all.

Regardless, it was unusual to see Luke down in Harmonica Town, and as such, Chase hadn't seen him in quite a while. These days, things were so much different between the two of them. People could hardly believe that they had once been best friends; the most cheerful person in the universe, who didn't know a stranger, and the grouchy and cold because he was actually really shy chef. Now, Luke had all sorts of other friends in Castanet, and Chase was all alone. And it was his fault, really; he could have answered the letters after they graduated; he could have opened the door when Luke had come to check in person; he could actually go out there and _talk_ to him instead of hiding behind the counter.

Chase glanced out into the bar once more, seeing Luke smiling widely as he talked to Owen. _He's just so happy._ Chase sighed and stopped watching. _He's better off without me._ He felt terrible for being… so jealous. He missed the friendship they once had so much, and it was obvious to him that he wasn't missed at all. But you know what they say: if you love something, set it free; if it comes back, they it's yours… Though that probably only counted if you actually _let the person back in._

He heard Kathy's laugh coming into the kitchen before she turned to him. "Hey Chase, I'm running out of excuses to tell Luke as to why you won't come out and talk to him."

Chase slowly turned to look at her, glancing out into the bar behind her to see that he was gone. He sighed and shook his head. "Thank you for doing this, Kathy."

"Are you _ever_ going to tell me why?" she asked, both annoyed and concerned.

Chase bit his tongue, trying not to give a rude reply. "I… I don't want to talk about it." But he paused. "He asked if I was here again?"

She nodded, frowning. "He always does and it looks like he's been stabbed in the heart each time I say that 'you're busy' or 'you stayed home sick.' He may be dense; he may be happy-go-lucky; but even he can tell that you're avoiding him."

It was Chase's turn to frown. Maybe he was just being a jerk; maybe Luke was hurting as much as he was… No, that wasn't possible. But maybe he was upset at least.

"What happened between you guys?" Kathy prodded.

"It's complicated, and it's all on me, so drop it please, okay?" He was losing his thin patience.

"Fine, fine," she conceded. She sighed, turning around. "You should talk to him, okay?" With that, she turned and left.

Chase continued the night, walking the long way towards his home in Flute Fields, watching the stars as he walked. He smiled, remembering when he was little, how he and Luke would always make silly little wishes. But the thought caused him to frown. He was trying so hard to forget about how he felt about Luke, but after two years, it didn't seem to be helping. Pressing a hand over his heart, he swallowed to try to get rid of the heartache that constricted his throat. Being best friends just hadn't been enough for Chase anymore; no, he was in love with Luke, had been for a long time, and he had tried and failed to change that. _Maybe next time I'll answer the door._ But he knew he was lying to himself.

Or at least, that's what he thought until the next morning, shortly after getting up. Following his usual routine, he began to play his flute, finding himself relaxing and forgetting the previous night's depression, if only for a moment. A knock on the door made him miss a note, his heart skipping a beat in the knowledge that whoever might be out there had heard the music from the instrument. Sighing, he paused for a moment to regain his composure before opening the door to a brightly smiling face.

"Hey, you're actually here!" Luke greeted with a grin, larger than usual if at all possible. "How've you been?"

"Good morning, Luke," Chase said, feeling a smile on his face at the sight of his friend's infectious grin. His nervousness faded away quickly. "I've been… busy." He looked down to avoid Luke's golden eyes. "What about you?" He blinked before Luke could respond. "Oh, I guess I should invite you in! It's been a while since I've had a guest." _Like not since I moved here._

"Thanks!" He came in. "I've been alright, I guess. I've missed hanging out with you thought." His smile dissolved into a frown. Chase felt sick.

"Yeah, sorry…" He gulped.

"So uh, are you done avoiding me, or what?" Chase opened his mouth to reply, but Luke continued. "Or are you going to insist that you weren't avoiding me in the first place?" No smile to be seen; not even a glimmer.

"Sorry," Chase began, but Luke shook his head, showing that it wasn't forgiven yet. "I just…"

Luke sighed. "You know me. I'm not dense enough to keep believing all of the excuses you make Kathy tell me." He shook his head. "You're my best friend; I can tell when something's wrong. Was it something I did?"

"No!" Chase quickly countered. "You didn't do anything! All of this was my fault!" He froze after the words were out.

Luke looked a bit shocked by the outburst but took a deep breath. Chase recognized the expression; anger and confusion. "Look, you don't have to tell me right now," he said slowly, "but will you promise to talk to me about it sometime? Or at least… at least talk to me at all?"

The expression on his face was defeated; Chase wanted to rush over and hug him, telling him that he was so sorry, that he would make up for everything. But he didn't. All he said was "Yeah." Looking up, he voiced his main worry at the moment. "We're still friends, right?" He gulped, knowing that he didn't deserve it.

"Of course!" Luke said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Best friends forever and all that." The smile had returned. He paused. "I wish I could stick around and catch up, but I honestly was heading to the forest for a bit. Dad's got some projects planned out."

"Oh. That's okay." Chase smiled softly.

"Can I stop in again later?" He looked hopeful.

"Of course!" Chase's smile grew. "I do work, but I promise I won't ignore you anymore."

"Really?" the grin that Chase loved and had missed so much reappeared. "Awesome! I was afraid that I was going to come over here and you tell me to leave you alone or something like that."

Chase rubbed the back of his head. It was extremely difficult not to blush when that smile was directed at him. "I, er," he laughed nervously. "I'll tell you about it sometime." That was vague enough, right?

Luke tilted his head. "You'd better," he said after a moment. "I'll stop in when I leave the forest, okay? Then we can talk more."

Chase nodded happily, waving at his friend as he went out the door and down the path away from the house. He sighed as he closed the door, smile still painted on his face. _Maybe I can fix this after all._

Luke _really _wished he didn't have to go. Chase finally talked to him again! He couldn't know for sure if he'd keep his promise and not go away; he had broken that once before. He didn't know how much more he could take.

God, though, it was amazing to see his face again. He didn't realize how much he had missed him.

Well, that was a lie. Luke knew well just how miserable he had been if he had a free moment to let his mind wander; and he knew why too. Luke loved Chase more than he loved nature, which was really saying something! And he had been going to tell him, too: but then Chase stopped talking to him at all. He hadn't even been worried that would happen even if he had told him; Chase was a cool guy, and even if he seemed cold and rude, he would have laughed it off if he was offended.

Well, Luke knew he would be back, and he wasn't letting Chase get away this time… If only he didn't have to go and gather stupid wood today of all stupid days.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Chase felt like he was walking on air all day, so happy to have finally stopped being a coward and talking to Luke again. He could hardly wait to see him once more. Maybe he hadn't ruined things completely. That feeling only feel a bit when Luke didn't stop in that night. Or the next day. He actually began to worry the day after that; and his worries were proven worthwhile that night at the bar.

Dale walked up to the counter and spoke to Hayden quietly. "Has Luke been here in the past few days?" he asked with a tinge of worry in his voice.

"No… Is something wrong?" the bartender asked in concern.

The carpenter nodded slowly. "He went to Fugue Forest a few days ago and he's not back yet. It wouldn't be that odd if he hadn't gone for a specific purpose, but he went to get materials for a project."

"I'll ask around," Hayden said with a sigh. "I'm sure he's fine."

"I know," Dale said. "But I worry; he's so… he doesn't pay enough attention."

Chase took a deep breath, looking down at the empty stove before him. He should let Dale know that he had seen Luke the other day; he should get more information; he should help find him.

But before he had gathered the courage to go out there and say something, Dale had left.

A few hours later, Bo came in asking the same questions, but Chase knew it would be even worse for him to talk to Bo; oh no, Bo, the rival for best friend since the beginning of time, would be extremely angry with Chase for making Luke so sad. And so, at the end of his shift, he stopped in at home only long enough to pack some belongings and set out into the woods in search of his wayward friend.

"How the hell did I get lost?" Luke asked the empty forest around him. He usually knew these woods like the back of his hand, but for some reason, the winding paths between the trees seemed to change on their own; he knew he was in big trouble. He groaned, shaking his head in annoyance before leaning against a tree. He had seen the light change enough through the thick trees to signal the change between night and day at least three times.

He was tired, he was hungry, and he really was just ready to get out of these lonely woods. _Ha,_ he thought, _that's the first time I've ever thought of them like that._ He would laugh if he weren't so frustrated with himself and the world in general. How was he going to find his way out of here? He'd tried for so long and now he had no idea where he could be. He could only be feet from the exit or he could be miles from daylight; there was no telling now. He was disoriented… and to be completely honest, he was scared.

He had the creeping feeling as though something was watching him, eyes on the back of his neck no matter which direction he turned. _I'm sure it's just my imagination._ He shook his head, looking up into the tree. There was a low hanging branch, large enough to be sturdy to sit on. He was _so tired_ but he knew it wasn't safe to sleep on the ground… But maybe a tree would work?

He climbed into the tree, curled up the best he could, and let his eyes flutter closed. _Just for a few minutes, you know._

Chase never went into the woods alone. He _never_ went into the Fugue Forest these days at all. It was just so… so spooky. Sure, it might be silly to be afraid of the woods, but he had always had Luke to turn to when he was in them before, and since they hadn't been speaking, he simply hadn't had a reason to go into the woods in the first place.

The Fugue Forest was a mysterious place for sure, but since Luke knew it like the back of his hand, Chase was sure that something must have happened for him not to have returned. In hindsight, perhaps it would have been wise to tell someone where he was going in case he got lost himself, but he hadn't thought of it until he was too far in to turn around. Luckily he had brought some string to mark his path with so that he would be less likely to get lost anyway. To prove his point, he glanced back, happy to see the yellow ribbon still tied to the branches of a tree several yards away. He smiled, thinking about the old trick that Luke hadn't had to use for years for sure. _I'm just not cut out for this stuff._

He had brought plenty of food; some for him, some for Luke (who was surely _starving)_, and some for any forest creatures that he had to trade it for his life to. Okay, so the last part was unlikely to happen, but regardless. And he had brought his most worn-out kitchen knife, the closest thing to an ax that he owned and that he was willing to chance ruining or losing. He was as close to ready as he could possibly be on such short notice.

But he had been searching for hours now and he had seen no sign other than a stray stump amongst the trees, and there was really no way to tell who had caused them or a way to follow them to where Luke might be. Chase sighed, looking around. Where could to stupid carpenter be? Chase should be at home now, sleeping in preparation for the next day's work! And at very least, he needed to be hone in time to reach work at all. _I should have told someone that I'd be gone. Not that anyone would worry about me anyway… It's not like I have a caring family like Luke's._

Sure, Hayden and Kathy were nice and all, and they had become like family; but he knew that he was just an annoyance and employee to them most of the time. They wouldn't worry until the next day if he didn't show up, and even then they wouldn't worry unless he wasn't there for days. It had happened before, and it wasn't like he was really needed anyway. No one ever ordered a meal anymore. He frowned at the thought. The last thing he needed to do was allow himself to wallow in his depression in the middle of nowhere and let his thoughts wander enough to lose his concentration on the task at hand.

He finally saw a sign that Luke might actually be out here somewhere a few moments later; a small piece of fabric torn from clothing hanging on a branch, though it appeared as if it were there on accident. But it was a sign of life more tangible than the stumps on the ground that could be any age. Suddenly something occurred to him, an old suggestion that he remembered being told by Dale as a child, before the man decided to take a dislike towards him: 'if you're ever in the woods and need to sleep but don't have a tent, don't sleep on the ground. It's not safe from wolves and bears. Trees are safer; they aren't perfect, but they are a least a little safer.'

Taking into consideration how long Luke had been missing, it was clear to chase that he would have to sleep sometime, so he should watch the trees as well for signs of his friend. "Luke? Are you out here anywhere?" he called, hoping to be heard while knowing it wasn't likely at this point.

But he heard a rustling of branches in the treetop ahead of him and snapped his head up, fearing what it could be if not his friend. The warm green of the leaves blocked his vision, so he stood cautiously for a moment before proceeding towards the sound. Perhaps not the wisest option, but really, what did he have to lose?

_Oh, right,_ Chase thought as he shook his head. _Nothing. At least if I can't find Luke, and even then, probably nothing._ He reached the tree and looked up, seeing a limp arm hanging down; his initial reaction was to panic and run, but he decided to take a deep breath and try to wake whomever it belonged to instead. "Luke, is that you?"

The arm jerked up at the sound of his voice, seemingly startle, and he heard a distinctive voice yell "Whoa!" as Luke fell from the tree in front of him, landing on his face. "Geez, Chase, you scared me!" he said, rolling over and sitting up, rubbing the back of his head. "Wait, Chase?" It was obvious that Luke seemed to be having the whole 'time and place' moment of confusion.

Chase rushed over to check on Luke. "Geez, Luke, you have people worried about you! Why have you been out here for so long?" He studied his friend's face, noticing a bit of haziness in his eyes and a general look of not feeling well. He placed a hand on his forehead in suspicion. "You have a fever! Don't tell me you came out here sick!"

"I have a fever?" Luke asked confused. "Wait, what are you doing out here anyway? Don't tell me you're lost too!"

"You're…" Chase paused for a moment, amused before concern once again took over. "You're lost? You got lost out here?" He sighed, trying not to become more upset with worry. "I came out here to look for you because your father came to the bar and asked Hayden and Kathy if they'd seen you, since you've been gone longer than he expected." He pulled his bag off of his back, digging through in attempt to find his first aid kit; he hadn't expected to need it, but he had brought it in case, and it apparently was a good thing to have the fever reducers within. "And I'm not lost; I marked the trail." He pointed over to the straight line of trees marked with yellow ribbon that led around the corner and down a long, winding path out of the woods.

"Oh," Luke said, rubbing the back of his neck painfully. "I guess if I have a fever, that explains why things seemed so… so weird. Nothing made sense, so I ended up wandering here while looking for a way out!"

Chase nodded as he handed his friend the medicine and a bottle of water. "You seemed fine when you stopped by my house; when did you start to feel sick?"

"Well," he began after he swallowed the nasty medicine and made a face. "I don't really know. I don't know how long I've been out here."

Chase sighed, now even more concerned. "It's been three days since you stopped by my house; well, at least it had been when I came here to look for you. It's been several hours since I've been in here."

Luke frowned at the thought. "Geez, I'm sorry I had you worried." Something about his expression told Chase that he was surprised that he had been.

"Of course I was worried. If your father was worried, then there is a reason to be, right?" Chase explained, but found himself frowning as Luke's expression seemed to fall more; it occurred to him that it sounded like he wouldn't have cared otherwise. He opened his mouth to continue, but was interrupted.

"Oh," Luke said dully, his voice without its usual cheer. "Did he ask you to search then?"

"No, he didn't," Chase said, trying to figure out how to explain more properly. "I was worried anyway, since you had said you'd be back the next day and you didn't show up." He tried to smile, a rare sight from him, but he was too concerned to see Luke so… so out of it. "Come on. Let's get out of this forest before it gets any darker, okay?" Luke nodded slowly, still seeming sad and disoriented… Chase had just been going to help him up, but instead found himself with his arms wrapped around the carpenter's neck in a tight hug before he could catch himself; and the instant he realized it and had gotten over his shock to pull away, Luke was hugging him back for a moment. When he let go, Chase quickly stood up, turning his head to try to hide his blush, because why should he be blushing? They were best friends, after all; hugs should still be normal, even after several years apart. But it wasn't. "You—you need to take care of yourself, okay?" he said in lack of any other words as he helped his friend stand up.

Luke seemed surprised to see Chase's expression as well, and the chef noticed a slight tint of pink on his face as well in response to the realization. "Yeah, uh… I usually do," he said after a moment. He still seemed disoriented, but the sadness was _definitely_ gone from his eyes, replaced by a happiness that was stronger than usual if that was even possible. Chase glanced back at him when he thought his face was no longer so obviously red and met his golden eyes, surprised to see a familiar expression that he had never taken the time to think about before looking back. When he took the moment to consider it, he could only think of seeing the look in his own eyes, reflecting off of the glass of a picture frame in his house; happiness, sadness, regrets and… love. But rather than linger on the thought, they headed out of the woods, following the yellow ribbon path, removing it as they went.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

Luke was puzzled by this whole thing; first, he got _lost._ He, the _great Luke,_ got lost! And who of all people came to rescue him? _Chase!_ The guy whom he had to literally drag behind him as kids to get him to enter the Fugue Forest in the first place! Not that he was complaining; it was nice to have had Chase find him instead of Bo or his dad, because they would surely have had a lecture prepared instead of kind words and medicine to get rid of a fever, and it also was just nice to have Chase still talking to him.

But the point was Luke was not the one who was supposed to need rescuing!

If that hadn't been confusing enough, a spontaneous hug that hadn't been initiated by him from Chase was a shock, and the expression afterwards was baffling! Surely it was just his fever breaking that made him imagine the embarrassment and… love… on his best friend's face. That would just be too good to be true.

But as he felt his fever breaking and things became less hazy, it seemed more and more real. As they walked, Chase trying to make casual conversation to keep Luke awake, reality was sinking in. This had all actually happened.

Which was further accentuated by Bo's appearance in front of them as they exited the forest. He seemed to be ready to start a search of his own, studying the yellow ribbon in confusion. He jumped as they walked out from between the trees, obviously surprised. "There you are, Luke!" he yelled after a moment. A moment later, his eyes drifted to Chase and showed only confusion.

Being one to joke about his embarrassment, Luke chuckled and told the truth. "I got lost and Chase had to find me. I guess I had a fever." He noticed Chase and Bo eyeing each other, Bo looking angry and almost territorial and Chase looking uncomfortable. _What?_

"You had a fever?" Bo asked, looking more annoyed than concerned. "We've been worried sick!"

"Yeah, well, sorry," Luke said, looking down and rubbing the back of his head.

Chase let out a shaky breath that he didn't seem to notice he'd been holding. "Well, since Bo's here, I'll let him take you home…" He sounded almost… disappointed? He started to head down the path, stopping only for a moment to turn towards Luke. "Take care of yourself," he said stiffly, eyes shifting to Bo as Luke looked over as well, seeing the death stare that was being given towards his best friend.

"Uh, wait!" Luke said as Chase started to walk away. "Don't be a stranger, okay? I'll stop by sometime!"

He turned his head slightly and smiled. "Feel free. See you later," he said in a far more relaxed tone.

When he was out of hearing range, Bo muttered, "How did he even know you were missing?"

Luke looked at Bo, once again confused by the tone. "He overheard Dad when he was talking to Hayden at the bar… he works there." He watched Bo carefully. "Why were you looking at him like that?"

He rolled his eyes, though he was obviously trying to be subtle about it. "He probably poisoned you or something. You weren't sick before you left, and I know that you were stopping in at his house on the way."

Luke felt a twinge of anger appear at the accusation. "Why would you think Chase would do that? Besides, he came and found me. He obviously cares." Luke held back the implied _more than you do. _He'd always known that Bo didn't like Chase, but… this much?

"It probably was all some kind of scheme," Bo said grumpily. "Doesn't it seem bizarre that he'd come and look for you?"

"Well not really, I mean, he's my friend!" Luke said, noticing his fever lessening but his annoyance growing. "He wouldn't do anything to hurt me."

"But since when does he even care?" Bo asked, his level of upset fully shown. And Luke recognized that expression too; jealousy. "He hasn't even spoken to you in years! How did he know where to come and find you? He never even goes into the forest!"

Luke narrowed his eyes. _This is exactly why I was so happy it was Chase who found me._ "Hey, I don't know what's been going on with Chase for the past few years, but he's still my friend! We'll always be friends!" He sighed in exasperation. "I know you don't like him; I don't know why, but you don't. It doesn't matter how he was able to find me, it's the fact that he cared enough to try! Because he never goes into the forest. I know how much he hates it!"

"I just don't get it, Luke!" Bo yelled back. "After how much it hurt you not to talk to him for so long you just forgive him? He didn't even have the guts to come out and actually talk to Dale! Or me, if he was still there when I came to check the bar too! _I_ had to tell your dad that he probably was the last one to see you! And _I_ won't hear the end of it when we get home for not seeing that you were sick!"

Luke's mind completely snapped before he could get control of his anger. "That's because he knows how much you and Dad don't like him! You never have, neither of you!" He gritted his teeth to try to calm down, but failed. "And some concern you're showing for me being missing! Yelling at me and blaming chase for something that was my own damn fault! I'm the one who didn't realize that I was sick; I'm the one who had a feeling that I shouldn't go into the forest by did anyway! And here _you_ are standing here yelling at me because _you_ are going to be uncomfortable because of it!"

Bo seemed to snap out of his anger at those words, his face suddenly growing guilty. "I uh, oh, um…" he seemed so surprised that Luke would be angry at all, which just ticked Luke off more. Sure, it was rare, but it also was rare for Bo to be insulting his best friend and so blatantly accusing him of being at fault. "…Sorry."

Luke took a deep breath of his own to calm down. "Apology accepted." He chose to word it that way because it wasn't 'okay', but he could get over it. "Look Bo, I really don't know why you and Dad have always had it out for Chase since I was in middle school, but I'm really just tired of either one of you thinking it's any of your business who I'm friends with or who I consider to be my friend."

But after they were at home and he indeed had been yelled at for getting lost and Chase was indeed further insulted when his dad and Bo thought that Luke was asleep to recover from the misadventure and fever, things clicked in Luke's mind as to when they stopped liking Chase.

A simple thing; two pre-teen best friends having a normal pre-teen best friend kind of day when in a spur of the moment decision they decided to see what it was like to kiss someone. Such a simple and innocent thing, but it was when Luke had fallen in love with Chase (not that he told anyone) and he had been yelled at so much by his dad about 'kisses were supposed to be for a boy and a girl who were in love' and all of that stupid homophobic crap. Bo being his adopted brother obviously took his father's side and believed that Chase had somehow hurt him, and apparently hadn't outgrown that feeling to this dad, and though it hadn't occurred to Luke before now, Dale had been trying ever since that day to get Chase to stop being his friend.

_It's not freaking fair,_ Luke thought as he stared up at the ceiling. _Chase didn't do anything and they hate him; Chase didn't do anything, and they want to control me and make us not be friends._ He finally closed his eyes, deciding that tomorrow he would go and talk to Chase to see where they stood. If it meant creating a rift between his family in order to be friends again, he would; because you choose your friends… you don't choose your family.

oOo

(Dream)

_Two pre-teen boys sat near each other looking up at the night sky. Tonight was the stupid Moon Festival and all of the grown-ups were over at Moon Hill gazing up at the sky and being all romantic and melodramatic. Chase and Luke could only feel annoyed by it, being that they were at the age where dating was beginning between their classmates and they were dateless._

_ But their young minds began to wander under the silvery glow from the sky. Their emotions were shifting into thoughts that caused each of them confusion._

_ Luke stretched and yawned, feeling the chill of the fall air against his skin. He looked over at Chase… and caught himself in a strange thought as he gazed at his friend in the moonlight. Chase's eyes were still locked on the sky, his lavender eyes reflecting the silvery glow in a mesmerizing way. And Luke thought he looked beautiful. What? he wondered, shaking his head. But, being the kind of person he was, his mind was creating a scheme to try to figure it out. An excuse… "Hey Chase, you ever wonder what it's like to be kissed?" he asked, his heart thumping after the question was out._

_ Chase wasn't even startled by the strange question from his friend. It was such a random, 'Luke' thing to ask. "Yeah, I guess," he replied, not even bothering to look over. The moon was just too beautiful to look away from. It made him wonder about the parents whom he had never met. He had been adopted into Julius's family, who treated him as their own, but he always wondered if they were looking up at the same sky wherever they were._

_ Luke watched his best friend as he stared so engrossed at the beauty of the night. Luke licked his lips nervously, wishing to touch them against Chase's. "Do you, um…" he froze mid-sentence, his nervousness getting to him._

_ Chase reluctantly removed his gaze from the silvery orb above to look at his friend, wondering why he had stopped talking so suddenly, only to be shocked by how close their faces suddenly were. His eyes were now glued on Luke's, and suddenly he felt like they were even more beautiful than the sky above. He was too distracted to even register what was happening until their lips were touching. Once again, not really surprised (this was Luke after all), he returned the kiss gently and briefly, not even blushing because he was sure there was some kind of reasonable explanation that he would momentarily hear. "What was that about?" he asked as he stared into amber eyes once more, confused by the look within them more than what had just happened._

_ "Oh, um, I don't know," Luke said, quickly turning his gaze to the sky as he seemed to be hiding embarrassment._

_ That was when Chase too began to feel embarrassed, it finally registering how the kiss had made him feel. However he knew this would be one of the things they never really talked about, so he did his best to ignore the feeling as he lay back on the cool grass to stare up once more. "Whatever," he said nonchalantly. It wasn't like that changed anything; they were just two best friends sitting in the moonlight, trying to make sense of feelings so foreign to people so young._

_ At least, until Luke's arm was grabbed and he was pulled off the ground roughly by Dale, who had apparently been watching. "Dad, what's wrong?" Luke asked, annoyed by his father's sudden appearance._

_ "We need to get home," he said gruffly, a hint of anger in his voice, causing Chase to sit up and look at the father and son… startled as he found himself the victim of the notoriously intimidating glare of a man whom had become like a second father to him._

_ Not wanting to show his discomfort and confusion, he simply shrugged to his friend whom gazed at him as if hoping for some kind of explanation he might be missing. "See you later, Luke," he said simply, quickly lying back down to escape the glower._

_ "Yeah… See you later Chase?" Luke said as he was pulled away, confusion the only visible emotion._

_ Chase watched the scene in concern as a similarly puzzled Bo followed behind the father and son. Once they were no longer in sight, he sighed as he stared at the moon for an explanation, his heart fluttering as he knew he would never be able to talk about what had just happened or find out what it had meant._


	4. Chapter 4

((Author's Note: Just so you know, I don't have anything against Bo and Dale in the game… However, I decide that I could you know… Make them work for this story… So yeah. Jerkfaces.))

Chapter 4

Chase had gone to work as usual; no one knew he had been gone at all… well, other than Maya, but that was because she was a bit of a stalker, and even she had been persuaded that he was fine and ignored. He didn't complain about how normal things were; let that small adventure be behind him, even if he was _really_ tired and needed to sleep. Kathy asked if he was okay upon seeing his exhaustion, but he said he was, and that was that. It was nice not to be questioned.

Now he was home waking up early, as usual, to cook his breakfast and play his flute and all of the other random habits that got him through each day. The only difference had been that his night was spend worrying about Luke being sick and hoping he was feeling better and feeling hurt by the look Bo had given him of pure hatred that he hadn't had to face in such a long time. He just hoped that Luke didn't listen to whatever explanation the younger brother tried to use to persuade him of Chase's evil. Maybe Luke would show up, and maybe he would have the courage to open the door, and maybe he would have the courage to actually _explain_ why things had been as they had.

He rubbed his forehead as he walked into the kitchen, his head pounding from exhaustion and possibly even a fever of his own, though it was hard to tell due to the frequency of these stress induced headaches in the first place. He glanced out the window, seeing Maya glancing in as she passed by to 'go buy yam seeds' like every other day of the past month. She started to smile and turn to come to the door, but she instead turned around and waved to someone who was outside of his line of vision before continuing to the farm to go about whatever business she may or may not really have. _Weird,_ he thought as he grabbed an orange and sat it on the counter. He jumped when there was a knock on the door, since his expected visitor was no longer _en route_.

Grumbling, he walked over and opened the door to be greeted by a bright smile from Luke. "Good morning!" his enthusiastic friend hailed.

Chase smiled slightly as well in response. "Good morning," he said with a slight cheerful note of his own, headache suddenly long forgotten. "Come in." He stepped out of the doorway to allow Luke to enter.

"So I uh…" Luke began after the door closed and Chase had turned to face him. Chase was concerned by the strange nervousness on Luke's face. "We're still friends, right?"

"Yes," Chase replied, but furrowed his brow at the question. "Didn't I ask you the same thing the other day?" _Oh no,_ he thought as realization struck him. _Bo got to him._

"Yeah, you did." Luke smiled slightly, the nervousness melting away for the moment. "Just wanted to make sure."

"What's wrong?" Chase asked; he still could read Luke like a book.

"Well, um…" Luke was blushing softly, that expression present once more. "I just wanted to make sure, because… I kind of just quit my job because Dad and Bo were making such a big deal like you were some kind of bad person…"

Chase's jaw dropped. "You did _WHAT?_"

That morning, Luke had gotten up in a terrible mood, and he had been confronted once more about his disappearance. And indeed, Dale and Bo were throwing accusations towards Chase that they figured Luke was too dense to catch… But he wasn't.

He was _sick_ of their crap, so he simply stood up with a smile mid conversation before putting on his most angry face; the contrast was to show how mad he really was. "If you guys think that you can tell me who to be friends with, you're wrong." He headed to his room to pack. "I quit, and I'm leaving."

"What the hell, Luke?" Dale protested, following him up the stairs and ending up with a door slammed in his face. "All this over one incident?"

"Yeah, but it's not one time. You've been insulting Chase like this for years. I'm sick of it." He yanked the door open, packed bag in hand, and shoved his way past his father. "And guess what? I'm done with you controlling my life, so here's a fun fact; I'm gay. Don't worry thought; I'm getting out of your life, so that won't bother you anymore either." He marched out the front door, slamming it in Bo's face this time and ignoring the yells for him to come back. Anger was still on his face and in his heart. He never turned back to look at the only home he had ever known, thinking about how proud of him his mother would be for finally being true to himself.

Because no matter how much Dale tried to use her as an excuse to convince Luke that he was doing the wrong things in his life, he always had known the truth; she would be proud of him for being brave enough to make his own choices in the first place, and she would be proud of him for walking away to live his own life now.

Not that he told Chase any of that just then, looking at the shock on his friend's face and wondering how he was going to approach this even after having a long walk here to think about it. He had dropped his bag off at the vacant house by the river, which he could only hope Hamilton would allow him to buy soon with the money he had secretly been saving.

Chase desperately tried to come up with some kind of response to the news that he never expected to hear. _Surely there must have been more going on than that for him to do something so drastic._

But looking into Luke's eyes was so distracting; the beautiful gold was more mesmerizing than ever and he just wanted to kiss those wonderful lips for the second time in his life to see if it was as amazing as it had been back then. He managed to control himself, but it was difficult.

Finally Chase sighed. "Have you had breakfast?" he asked in desperation for a conversation. "I was going to make some French toast, would you like some?" _Smooth Chase, smooth,_ he thought to himself, glad that he always had cooking to fall back on in moments like this.

Luke looked amused by the subject change, as if it was a welcome sign that everything was normal between the two of them; when Chase thought about it, it was indeed his common route away from uncomfortable subjects, if only temporarily.

"I don't want to be any trouble…" Luke said, an uncommon response to such an offer; but it was still so normal that it was almost painful.

"It's really no extra effort," Chase ensured, heading towards the kitchen with a small smile. But he was stopped by a hand on his arm, making him turn around and look back. He froze from how close their faces suddenly were, his eyes pulled automatically to Luke's golden gaze.

"Why did you stop talking to me?" Luke asked. He seemed to be shocked that the words come from his mouth, but he didn't make any attempt to change them into something different. "You went away to that cooking class right after graduation. And when you came back, you didn't say a word to me until the other day."

Chase felt his heart clench from the sadness in his friend's voice and he couldn't find words of his own. As he felt his eyes beginning to burn from his own sorrow, he found himself leaning forward and connecting their lips before he even registered what was happening.

But as soon as things clicked into place and he went to pull away to apologize profusely, there was a hand on the back of his head to prevent it as he was kissed back. Every hazy thought in his mind made sense now and he let his eyes close to enjoy this moment that he hoped with all of his heart was real; the greedy massaging of lips against his, the warmth of the close embrace he was pulled into, and the sweet smell of Luke's breath as it caressed the air around his face.

Luke's thoughts were similar as he reluctantly allowed the kiss to end when he ran out of breath. _Yep,_ _just replaced the other one as the best damn kiss in my life._ He felt his face grow hot as a blush crossed his cheeks. "Oh. That's why?"

Shock was painted on Chase's face more than embarrassment as he was visibly trying to get his thoughts in order once more; that expression captivated Luke, the very notion that there was that much crossing his mind that needed to be organized like that. "I-I um…" Chase tried to begin. He swallowed and took a deep breath. "Yeah…" he finally managed as he suddenly noticed that Luke was still holding his arm. The shock seemed to fade as an awed happiness took its place.

Luke stood frozen in his own shock for a moment before bursting out in what felt like the largest smile of his life. "So. Freaking. Awesome!" he finally said as he tackled his friend in a hug. "Because I love you so much! And I was going to tell you! But then you went away and I couldn't!"

"R-really?" Chase asked as he slowly wrapped his arms around Luke. He was thrilled. He was shocked. He was confused. And he felt like an absolute idiot as everything seemed to piece together and created a clear picture out of the puzzle. _That's why Dale and Bo hate me so much?_ He felt his heart clench in mixed emotions; joy that he was loved… and sadness that Luke had to choose.

"Yes, really!" Luke exclaimed joyfully as he reluctantly let go. But he felt the motions change as he realized he would never get approval from his father… He knew he had made the right choice, but…

"I love you too," Chase said with a smile of his own; but he put a hand on Luke's shoulder in understanding of the thoughts that were going through his mind at that moment. "But I um… I wish you hadn't had to leave your home…" His smile faded and his voice grew quieter. "I never came back because I couldn't take it anymore… I didn't want to hurt you… I didn't want you to hate me because I thought that you'd never feel the same way." He sighed. "I guess I was an idiot though, and a jerk; you deserved an explanation."

"Hey, you're not an idiot," Luke insisted before something grabbed his attention. From the window, something caught his eye. As Maya was walking by (glancing in for a moment,) she suddenly looked up and he saw an upset-looking Dale approach her. Luke was afraid she would tell him that he was there… But he saw her shake her head as Dale turned around and left, smiling as she waved at him walking off.

Chase had been watching too and headed to the door when there was a quiet knock and an 'It's me!' from Maya. She could be annoying, but she was at least understanding and kind. Chase had wondered many times what she saw in him and thought that she and Luke would make a much better match; they were the two most cheerful people in town, after all. He opened the door slowly. Maya waved. "Dale looked pretty upset, so I didn't tell him Luke was here. He looked like he could use some time to cool off."

Chase, now in a good mood and happy that she had lied, decided that he was making enough food for two anyway, so how much more was it to make some for three? That's all Maya really had ever wanted anyway; food. Besides, the stalkerish look was absent from her eyes, replaced by understanding. Besides, she had an expectant look, like she wanted food as payment. "Thanks," he said after a moment. "Would you like some breakfast?"

Her face lit up like a flashlight. "Really?" she asked excitedly. "Oh, thank you! I won't stay for long, I promise!" He let her in, hearing her sing-songing under her voice 'Free food! Free food!' And when he looked over at Luke, it was obvious that he was trying not to crack up.

After Chase went into the kitchen, Luke stayed in the living room to talk to Maya. "Thanks, Maya," he said quietly.

"No problem!" she said with a smile. "You make him happy! And I got food out of it, so it's all good!" Luke was surprised she didn't seem jealous or worried; she seemed to notice this. "Besides, I knew you guys liked each other, ever since middle school. Chase is just such an awesome cook that I've been trying to get some of his food that isn't on the menu at the bar, and I knew he wasn't really just a grouch. I mean, if he liked me, then that would be awesome; but I'll get over it. And Kathy asked me to at least try because it might cheer him up."

Luke couldn't help but laugh at her response.

Luke had to agree with Maya; Chase was an even better cook now than he had been in high school. Breakfast had been pleasant, but it was nice when she left and they were alone once more. He really just wanted to kiss Chase again, tell him just how much he loved him, and maybe never let him out of his sight for fear that he would disappear from his life again.

"Do you even have anywhere to stay?" Chase eventually asked in concern.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I was going to go to town tomorrow and see if I could buy the house by the river. It's been empty for years." Luke smiled.

Chase shook his head, seeming exhausted by the comment. He rubbed his temples. "You can stay here for now," he said with an air of finality. "Anyway, even if you have enough money for that house, how are you going to pay for appliances and the like without a job?"

Luke frowned in thought. "I hadn't thought that far yet."

He looked up when he heard Chase laughing. "Oh wow. What did I expect?" Luke chuckled as well, just happy to hear that familiar, musical laughter from Chase. "Goodness I missed you," the chef said.

"I missed you too," Luke replied, grabbing Chase's hand. "Don't disappear again, okay?"

"I won't," Chase assured. "I love you. I couldn't do that to either of us again."

Luke smiled in response, taking the opportunity for another kiss and _damn it was perfect too. _"I love you too," he said when the exchange finally ended. He paused for a moment as Chase leaned his head against his shoulder. He seemed so tired. Still, he smiled. "Are we a couple now?" he asked after a moment.

Chase sat up to look at him. "I-if you want," he replied with a faint blush; but happiness shined in his eyes.

"Duh," Luke said with another grin and another quick peck. Chase smiled back before yawning and lying his head on his shoulder once more, closing his eyes. _Sleep sounds like a good idea,_ Luke thought in agreement as he watched his love smile as his breathing fell into the peaceful rhythm of sleep. He closed his eyes and let himself bask in the warmth and joy of love that surrounded them as he fell into a calm slumber as well.

3


	5. Chapter 5

(Author's note: Please forgive the long gap. My hands have been hurting extremely badly, so it's hard to write! It's like my worst nightmare.

Anyway, without further ado, here's Chapter 5!)

Chapter 5

Dale sat at a table in the bar, talking to Haden, his oldest friend. "I just don't get it," he said after a moment of interruption within their conversation. "I don't know what to do." His anger and frustration were gone, leaving only guilt and concern behind.

Hayden sighed. "I've been telling you for years, Dale, that there's nothing wrong with Luke. You want him to be happy, right?"

"Yes, but—"

"Then you need to let him know that you aren't ashamed of him," Hayden interrupted. "because there's nothing to be ashamed of."

Dale sighed. "You're right," he admitted. Hayden always had been right about this one.

"And Chase is a good kid. You know he'd have to be for me to have him working here."

At that moment, Kathy walked into the bar, her face a mixture of emotions. She blinked when she saw Dale before ignoring him and looking at her father. "Maya said that she saw Chase today. She said he's taking the night off," she told Hayden.

"Good," Hayden said in response. "He's seemed so tired the past few days, especially yesterday." Kathy nodded.

Dale blinked. "He didn't tell you guys that he was the one who went out and found Luke?"

"Huh?" Kathy asked, looking surprised and upset. "No… he didn't mention it. No wonder he looked so exhausted; he must have been out all night and day." She frowned, seeming a bit annoyed. "I can't believe he didn't tell anyone that he was going out into Fugue Forest!" She sighed. "It's like he doesn't want anyone to know that he cares about anyone."

Hayden sighed in concern. "I guess Maya was right to be a little worried then…"

"At least she said he was okay…" Kathy admitted with a sigh.

Dale studied the two of them for a moment. "So it's true then that Chase has been avoiding Luke?"

Kathy blinked at the question. "…Yeah," she admitted after a moment. "They apparently hadn't talked since he got back from that cooking class after high school." She paused. "You know, that's when his attitude became even ruder, and he started to get more and more depressed; I don't think he believes that anyone cares at all."

Chase felt warmth next to him as he woke from the most pleasant of dreams, except for the fact that it wasn't real. He wrapped his arms more tightly around whatever he was holding… only for it to more slightly, causing him to slowly open his eyes to find himself leaning on someone's shoulder and that what he was hugging was an arm. _Wait…_ he thought, _it wasn't a dream?_ His heart rate increased as he looked up and confirmed his suspicion. He was sleeping on the couch leaning on Luke, whose head had been on his until he moved.

His heart was doing backflips of joy at the fact that what happened was indeed real and his cheeks were growing warm as he observed the adorable expression on Luke's sleeping face. Chase was thankful that his usual headache was gone, and while it was obviously just now starting to get dark, he was no longer exhausted after the nap they had taken. Careful not to wake Luke with his movements, he sat up and rubbed his eyes, yawning quietly and stretching before standing and walking into the kitchen, his heart still pounding hard with his emotions.

Go figure there would happen to be a bluebird outside of his kitchen window to make him feel more flustered than before. Luckily it flew off quickly on its own, not leaving a feather behind.

As he was looking at his ingredients to decide what to fix for their dinner, he heard the quiet shifting of Luke on the couch. "Chase?" a sleepy voice called, causing him to look back towards the living room and come to the doorway of the kitchen.

"Is something wrong?" he asked quietly as he watched his… boyfriend, maybe…?

Luke quickly looked up, sleepy amber eyes meeting his lavender ones as a smile crossed his face. He seemed to just now be realizing that things had been real as well. "No, nothing's wrong," he assured, sounding as though it was the truest thing he had ever said.

They both jumped as there was a knock on the door, but Chase knew the rhythm as Kathy and went to greet her.

"Hey, Chase, just making sure you're alright since Maya said you weren't coming… in tonight?" Her expression quickly morphed into one of confusion as she spotted Luke sitting on the couch. Chase tried not to chuckle as he let her in, closing the door behind her. "Hi Luke…" she said after a moment of confused staring that quickly turned into realization.

"Hi Kathy!" Luke said with his usual grin, seeming as though nothing as unusual in the slightest about his presence in Chase's home.

She still seemed to be trying to puzzle out the situation as she spoke. "Dale's worried about you by the way," she said after a moment.

"He is?" Luke asked, his smile turning into a confused frown; a rare and unsettling sight.

Chase was equally confused, but not about Dale's concern; it was more due to Kathy seeming to understand _some_ of the situation but seeming confused by the exact event that was occurring. Kathy nodded. "Yeah, he was talking to my dad before the bar opened today." She turned to Chase. "Speaking of which, I can't believe you didn't tell me that you were going into the forest to look for Luke! What were you thinking? Something could have happened!"

Now he was truly perplexed; why did she seem so upset by that? "Um… nothing happened, so it doesn't matter." _Why do you care, _he found himself wondering. He considered her a friend, and maybe even like a sister, but he just annoyed her… right? Always asking her to lie to Luke for him?

"Yeah, but what if something _had_?" She insisted. "No one would have known where to look for you!"

"Sorry?" he replied as she calmed down.

"Geez Chase," she said after a deep breath. "Owen was right that you think that nobody cares about you?" The fact that she had talked to Owen didn't shock him; the fact that he would say anything about him was the part that was baffling. Seeing his confusion, she continued. "I'm going to quote him here: 'Chase never has believed that anyone cared about him but Luke; a lot of people consider him to be a friend, but he never believes them.' Well, you are my friend, so I'm going to worry, okay?"

Chase stood there in silence for a moment to try to organize this conversation; he hated disorganized things. That's why he loved cooking: everything could be organized; the steps were somewhat in a set order. Something to follow, or to piece together and put into an order that made sense, rather than randomness jumbled about. "Okay then," he said with a sigh. "I'm glad you consider me a friend, because I think of you as one as well," he began. "Now then, what were you saying about Dale being worried?" he tried to bring the conversation back to the most important path. He spotted a sparkle of momentary amusement in Luke's eyes; he really seemed to be enjoying all of Chase's little eccentricities, like he had missed them.

But his attention quickly shifted back to the question as Kathy replied. "Yeah. I don't know much more than that, but he was saying something about needing to apologize about something when I came in."

Luke looked _completely _stunned.

"So, um," Kathy began, biting her lip nervously. "What's going on?"

Luke shrugged. "I quit my job and moved out," he said simply, as if it was explanation enough.

Kathy sighed. "I know it might not be my business, but why? Maybe I can help work things out."

Luke looked at Chase, his expression asking 'can I tell her?' To which Chase responded with a shrug and a face that said 'beats the hell out of me. Up to you.' Which made both of them almost fall over laughing with the fact that they could _still_ have these silent conversations after all of these years apart. _Besides,_ Chase thought, _he never told me exactly what happened._

Luke sighed. "Long story short, Dad and Bo were saying that I was probably only sick because I stopped in here before I went to the woods. Saying that Chase probably poisoned me or something. I was tired of hearing it, so I left." He shrugged as if that told the entire story.

Chase simply frowned; he had known it was something like that, since Luke had said they were calling Chase a bad person, but it still upset him.

Kathy, on the other hand, looked absolutely disgusted, as she had no way to have foreseen that response. "Oh. My. God. I don't blame you one bit!" she exclaimed. The look in her eyes seemed to say that everything made sense now. "And that's why you've had be lie to Luke all of the time, isn't it Chase? Dale doesn't like you, so you were trying to stay away so that something like this didn't happen."

"…Basically…" Chase finally replied. Luke looked at him sadly.

"And it's no wonder you felt like no one could care either," she said with a sigh. "I remember dad saying that Dale was almost like another father to you when you were younger, and if someone that close could suddenly turn against you, then…" she trailed off. "No wonder Dad was so mad at Dale earlier!"

"It's not the first time my dad's said something like that, so I wasn't about to stay and let him try to drive a wedge between me and Chase again," Luke admitted with another deep sigh.

Chase looked at the floor, wishing that _he_ weren't the issue that had torn Luke's family apart. But it wasn't like he could do anything to change it; he had tried. Noticing the two other people in the room watching him with concern, he knew it was time to use his excuse to leave the room. As always, it was cooking. The perfect reason to use for _everything_ when cooking is your passion anyway. "…I'll go start dinner," he said, refusing to look at either of them as he headed towards the kitchen once more.

"Chase, wait," Luke said with a note of sadness in his voice. "This isn't your fault," he tried to convince.

Chase tried to maintain composure, biting his lip to stop an outburst of anger that was directed at himself on the two of them. But he had never been good at that. "How is it not my fault? I'm the issue in the first place!" The words were past his lips before he could stop them. _God I hate myself. _"I've always been an issue to everyone!" He continued to walk into the kitchen, trying to block out Luke telling him to stay and listen. In the middle of the room, as he finally had redirected his thoughts to cooking instead of his stormy emotions, he felt himself pulled into a tight embrace by Luke.

He looked up, not so much surprised or annoyed as just sad in general. "Hey," Luke said quietly, concern evident in his voice but kindness and love overwhelming all. Chase noted that Kathy did not follow them into the room; for that he was thankful. "I love you, and that's not a bad thing, okay?" Luke said softly into his ear, honestly making him shiver.

Chase slowly nodded, still avoiding those convincing amber eyes. _Luke, I know I'm not an issue in your mind, but…_ Luke placed a quick kiss on Chase's forehead before letting go. He finally submitted to the magnetic effect of those eyes for a moment, seeing only love; no anger, no blame. Just love. He turned his head again to escape or else his eyes would have flooded with tears over how lucky he was to be the recipient of that emotion. "Fine…" he reluctantly agreed. "Because I love you too…"


	6. Chapter 6

((Author's note: Please forgive the long gap. For some reason I left this sitting in a folder for ages when I could have posted it. On the other hand, there is a _lot_ that I had written that was a complete tangent from _everything_, so I have to get back on track.))

Chapter 6

A few days later, Luke was restless and decided it would be a good idea to go on a random walk and see where he ended up. Somehow his feet led him back to the Garmin Mines by his home; but before he crossed the bridge, he stopped in his tracks. He realized that he had returned on habit to a place that he had intended to avoid for a bit longer. And so, he turned to go back the other way…

Only to see Bo approaching. When the younger brother saw him, he picked up his pace. "Luke!"

Luke stood nervously, not truly ready to talk to either of his family members yet after having left in a huff like that. "Hey…" he said slowly once Bo reached him.

"Where have you been, dimwit? We've been worried!" Bo told him.

"You have?" he asked slowly.

"Of course we have!" Bo sighed. "Come on; let's at least go so we can all have a talk, okay?"

Luke considered for a moment, finally nodding. No reason to hold a grudge, right?

When they opened the door to the carpenter's shop, Dale looked up from his work. "Luke," he said, and Luke was surprised to hear not annoyance in his voice as it usually would be after a long absence, but regret.

"Hi," Luke said slowly, still lacking his usual smile as he became extremely uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry about the other day," Dale admitted after a moment.

Luke shrugged; an apology simply wasn't enough this time. "I guess I shouldn't have just left all upset like that." He knew not to expect anything more.

Bo sighed. "I'm sorry too…" he said slowly. After a moment, though, he blinked. "Are you back now, then?" he asked.

Dale studied Luke as well, a hopeful look in his eyes. Luke, however, didn't smile; he didn't nod. He shook his head. "No. It was about time I stopped being lazy and moved out anyway."

Dale looked sad. "I… I understand," he sighed. "But you still have a place to go, and you still have a job if you want it."

Luke was surprised. "Really?" he asked.

"Of course," Dale said. He showed no shock that Luke felt as though he wasn't welcome, however; he knew very well that was his own fault.

Bo frowned. "Where are you staying, anyway?"

"With a friend," he said simply, once again feeling that those words were enough of an answer. It should be, in his opinion, because it wasn't their business where he was every second of his life, concerned or not.

But Bo nodded knowingly. "With Chase then, since you put it like that?"

"…Yeah," he admitted. "But it doesn't matter."

"You're right," Dale said, surprising Luke once more. "I doesn't matter; it isn't our business."

"Thanks," Luke said after a moment, a smile finally returning to its customary place.

People had noticed an improvement in Chase's attitude. He was almost cheerful; well, cheerful for Chase, anyway. He was calm enough that even when he might overhear someone comment on his changed mood, he would only become briefly annoyed before returning to his former state of peace.

However, the fact that Luke was talking to Dale and Bo once more only helped ease his unnecessary guilt so much; he spent so long doing his best to avoid Luke to protect him from this awkward change in his life, and now he had failed in that. It was a hard thing to deal with… but he was trying; he really was trying.

And so, he acted like nothing was wrong the times that Luke noticed (stupid guy was far more observant than people thought) and he did his best to relax and be happy; because when he was happy, Luke was happy, and that made him happy. It was a handy little circle in theory… if it just would always work in practice.

But Luke, being Luke, was always trying to find ways to make him smile, one of which was trying to drag him out of the house for reasons other than going to work; for the past two years, the only place he had gone was to the bar for work. Otherwise he remained inside of his house, and he liked it that way. But in Luke's opinion, that just wouldn't do!

For once, Chase decided to give in; sometimes he did miss the fresh air and sunshine that he used to adore, even if it was only because he could spend more time with his amber eyed companion.

Luke was thrilled that Chase had agreed to go out today; in his opinion, it could officially count as a date, right? They hadn't had one of those… Though he guessed he should actually _ask_ if that was what this was. But first he wanted to make sure Chase was actually leaving the house and not just acting like it. And so, he quite literally grabbed his arm and tugged him along until his steps fell in stride, looking back while laughing. He was so happy to meet lavender eyes that showed shared amusement, though a shadow of sadness still lay underneath. Luke only hoped that he could make that sadness disappear.

"So… where are we going?" Chase asked after a moment.

Luke shrugged. "You know, just wherever our feet take us. Like we used to, remember?"

Chase chuckled. "Oh. Okay."

Luke smiled hugely at the reaction. He stopped for long enough to stare into lavender eyes, seeing that they were even more cheerful now. "I'm glad I convinced you to come with me today," he said. "You had kind of become a recluse." Chase was silent for a moment, smile shrinking, which made Luke curse himself. _I'm such an idiot!_

"Well… I didn't have you to drag me along. It was my fault," he said slowly. "I just… I thought it would be better for you if I disappeared."

Luke saw the sadness had returned in full force. "Me and my big mouth," he muttered under his breath. "Hey, just don't ever think that again, okay?" he said more loudly. "Because my life will never be how I want it to be if you aren't part of it." Chase blushed at the words. "But I know you're all selfless like that, so it's partially my fault for not saying anything sooner to keep you around."

"Hey, I'm the big jerk; you didn't do anything," Chase protested.

"But I did," Luke countered with a sigh. He wanted to get on to more cheerful conversations, but he just needed to say this. "I waited too long to try to tell you that I love you. If I had told you sooner…"

Chase shook his head. "Stop blaming yourself."

"Then you stop blaming _yourself_," Luke countered.

Chase blinked twice. "But it's my fault," he muttered after a moment.

Luke grabbed his hand gently. "Okay, he's the deal; it doesn't matter whose fault it is. I know I don't really even know who to blame, since this is on both of us. But feeling guilty doesn't do any good. So let's just remember it was a mistake and move on from it, okay?" He smiled softly.

Chase stared at him with wide eyes. "You… you're right," he said as he looked at the ground beneath his feet.

_That just won't do,_ Luke thought as he pulled Chase into a close hug. "I'm not letting you disappear again, okay?"

"I don't want to disappear again," Chase assured as he closed the distance between their faces and pressed his lips to Luke's a quick and gentle kiss, and while Luke wanted more, he wasn't going to push it.

"I love you," Luke whispered into Chase's ear when the kiss ended, smiling slightly at the way Chase shivered from feeling his breath against his ear.

Chase was smiling as he pushed Luke back slightly. "I love you too."

Luke_ still_ felt as though those were the most uplifting words in the universe; they still made his heart flutter and they made him feel as though nothing could bring him down. Those words made him never want to let Chase go…

Those words made him want to make sure that he wouldn't. And so, even though he knew it was crazy, he started watching the sky for a blue bird that might fly overhead; if it were to drop a feather, he would take it as a sign to go against logic… because who knew? Maybe Chase would agree.

((Author's note: This is the bridge that starts part 2, where my brain decided to take a major change in planned plot. I have some decent work going on in the right direction; I've just wasted a week or two writing about this completely random OC guy that popped up as a bad guy and changed decided he wanted to be a major character… so he's probably going to get his own story instead, and I need to get back on track. Thanks for bearing with me.)


	7. Part 2: Chapter 1

((Author's note: This is the random plot change. I understand if you decide to ditch since it's so different, but… Please don't. I love this story.))

Part 2

_(Dream/Flashback)_

_ "Come on, Luke!" Chase yelled as his best friend was falling behind. The two children were running through a strange part of the woods; far away from Fugue Forest. In fact, they were actually closer to home than anything else, but it was still a place that Luke had never been before._

_ "Where are we even going?" Luke asked. He always was up for an adventure, but he was curious; usually Chase never came up with these whims. Usually he only went along with Luke._

_ "Somewhere cool!" Chase insisted, his eyes shining with enthusiasm. "Come on! I always go and see stuff you think is cool, even when it sometimes isn't."_

_ "That's true…" he admitted._

_ As he finished the thought, they entered a strange clearing through the tall grass; the path opened into what appeared to be an ancient ruin submerged in the purest of water; there was a stone path across to a lone tree that stood separated from all else, its leaves seeming to glow with power._

_ "See? Isn't this cool?" the lavender eyed child asked enthusiastically._

_ Luke looked around. "Wow…" he said in awe. "Is this the Goddess Spring?"_

_ Chase nodded. "I found it yesterday after school when I was hiding and you couldn't find me. I swear I saw some Harvest Sprites here too, but they aren't here today."_

_ Luke grinned. "We'd be in so much trouble if our parents find out!" Luke said with a grin. "How come you don't have these awesome ideas more often?"_

_ Chase wasn't paying attention anymore. He stared at the tree ahead… It almost seemed to call to him…_

_ But Luke's hand on his arm pulled him away from the strange thought and back to reality. "you said you saw Sprites? Where?"_

_ And so Chase continued the tour._

Chase woke from the dream with a sigh, rolling over in attempt to get warm once more in the chilly fall air. "Why can't it still be summer?" he muttered to himself before closing his eyes once more and allowing his mind to wander.

That ruin in the woods; he hadn't been there since his return to Castanet. He didn't know why. He used to go to the spring all of the time when he was sad or angry or thrilled, and sometimes he just felt like it. He always talked to the tree as if it could give him advice, though it never did; it just helped him organize his thoughts when he couldn't do it on his own. He had taken Luke a few times after that first one, but eventually if became his private sanctuary.

But he gradually went less and less as he got older and was forced to 'let go' of such imaginary things as magic and fairies, and the last time he went was right before he got on the ship to leave Castanet, intending to never return.

Luckily that plan hadn't stuck. He would never be happy anywhere but there in his house, Luke sleeping peacefully on the couch in the other room.

The Harvest Sprites were gathered around the Goddess Tree, their concern having grown to a point of action. "Surely someone has to be noticing the way nature is starting to act strangely," Collin said to his fellow sprites; only Edge was absent from this meeting, though none of them could figure out why and that only caused their worry to grow.

The Harvest Goddess sighed at their words. "Humans simply don't pay as much attention to the world around them these days; only when it is severe do they notice things. They are just now being affected; they'll notice, and now it's almost too late." She looked sadly at the tree behind her. It was withering, on the verge of dying… and so was she.

"Someone has to be able to help us!" Ben said desperately, trying to figure out who it might be. He paused for a moment as a question crossed his mind. "Why hasn't your son come back?" Ben asked bluntly. "He used to come here all of the time."

The goddess blushed; she didn't like discussing the son that she had been forced to give to the human world, as she was unable to care for him on her own with all of her duties. She looked down sadly. "He left Castanet, remember? He came and told us before he did." _And it was my fault for not being there… for not letting him see us… for not letting him know that the magic was real._

"He stopped believing in us a long time ago," Alan said sadly. But he hesitated. "Maybe that Luke guy has talked to him!"

"Luke can't see us," Collin argued, "so we can't even ask."

Edge appeared before them, crying as usual. "What's wrong?" the Harvest Goddess asked quickly.

"I'm so happy!" he sobbed, calming the others down immediately. "Someone came and made a wish!"

"Who?" all of the other sprites enquired.

"Luke!" Edge sniffed. "He was talking about Chase."

"What?" the Goddess asked softly.

"Yeah… Apparently he came back again and they're friends again!" Edge paused long enough to try to stop crying. "Luke's wish was to find a way to make him happy."

"Back up," Darren said sleepily. "The Goddess's son is back? When did that happen?"

"A year ago, apparently," Edge replied. "Luke talks a lot when he makes a wish… Chase had been avoiding him until a few weeks ago though."

Alan frowned angrily. "I can't believe that Chase didn't even stop in to tell the Harvest Goddess that he was back!"

"It's not like he believes any of us are real," the Harvest Goddess said slowly in her son's defense.

"Well, I'll make him believe!" Alan insisted. "He's a chef, right? He uses fire all of the time! I'll try to talk to him… Surely he can help us!"

The sprites looked over as another leaf slowly fell from the branches of the Goddess Tree. "I hope he can…" the Harvest Goddess said after a moment.

Chase frowned at the stove, glad that he wasn't at work with all of these dishes failing. "It's just not getting hot enough!" he yelled, glad that Luke was up at the Garmin Mines working for his dad again rather than there to see his tantrum. "Why is this happening?" Chase nearly sobbed. "If I can't cook, then I'm _completely_ useless!"

The stove chose that moment to have a large burst of heat from the burner, completely scorching the previously nearly uncooked pancake. Yes, he was resorting to making _pancakes_ instead of something more complex just to try to make _something _work. "Heh," Chase laughed nervously once. "Oh well… right? I mean… I don't have to work tonight. There's always tomorrow…" he said, trying to channel Luke's optimism. "Who am I kidding?" he said sadly as he turned off the stove and went over to the table and laid his head down. "I've always been useless; this is nothing new."

"Hey, I wasn't trying to upset you!" a strange voice said from by the stove…

"Huh?" Chase asked as he slowly turned his head.

"I was just trying to get your attention!" the red sprite continued.

"Did I hit my head or something?" Chase muttered to himself, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. _Because surely that's not a Harvest Sprite sitting on my stove._

"Wait, you actually see me?" the sprite asked, suddenly seeming thrilled.

"Oh great," Chase said with an annoyed groan, rubbing his temples. "I've completely lost it now."

"No, wait!" the sprite said as Chase blinked several times trying to make the hallucination disappear. "I'm actually here!" the sprite jumped off of the stove and trotted over, climbing onto the table in front of Chase.

"Um…" Chase said quietly as he carefully poked the sprite.

"Hey, that tickled!" the sprite protested.

Chase covered his face with both hands. "What has become of me? Seeing Harvest Sprites. What's next, flying saucers? Something else from that weird cartoon that Luke insists on watching?" The sprite head-butted him. "Ow!"

"Hey, will you _listen_ to me, Chase?" the sprite said, grabbing the chef's attention.

"What?" he finally resigned.

The red sprite smiled. "I'm Alan, the Harvest Sprite of fire!"

"Hello Alan," Chase said dully. "Are you why I can't cook today?"

"Well… sorry about that," Alan said. "I wasn't trying to upset you that much. I was just trying to get you to pay attention."

Chase took a deep breath to control his temper. Seriously though; cooking was the one thing that made him feel useful, and if that was gone, he was nothing. "Why?" he asked after a moment. "Why did you need to get my attention by destroying my masterpieces?" he motioned towards the counter, covered in a plethora of failed dishes.

"Something bad is happening!" Alan told him. "The Goddess Tree is dying!"

"What?" Chase asked slowly in concern, his eyebrows furrowing as he tried to pay closer attention through his growing headache.

"Nature's all off these days, and things are only getting worse! Oh please, can you help us Chase?"

"Why me? What can I possibly do?" Chase asked in honest confusion.

"For one thing, you can see me; that's a start." Alan sighed. "Can you just come to the Goddess Spring so that you can talk to the others as well so that maybe you can work out what's going on? You're good at the kind of thing, right? Solving puzzles?"

"How the heck do you know that?" he asked in dismay. "Have you been spying on me through stoves?"

"Of course not!" Alan protested. "You used to talk about it when you visited the spring, remember?"

Chase's eyes widened. "So you're telling me that I actually saw you guys those times?"

"Well yeah," Alan said. "Back when you believed."

Enough was enough. "Well let's go then!" Chase stood up. "No time to waste! I don't understand what's going on, but it doesn't sound good…" Then he whispered, "And you probably won't let me cook again until I help you anyway."

"Hey, that last part wasn't very nice!" Alan complained.

"You heard that?"

Not only was Luke surprised when he looked up from his work and saw Chase walking by the shop (he never came up to the mines) but he would swear that he saw a strange little red thing following him. Deciding it was almost time to stop for the night anyway, he walked outside to try to catch up to the chef, who was walking quite quickly and with purpose. "Hey Chase, wait up!" Luke yelled as he jogged to catch up.

Chase stopped and turned to face Luke. "Oh, hey Luke," he said, a nervous look on his face.

"Hey Luke!" the strange red thing said as it waved enthusiastically. "Not that you can even see me…"

"What the heck is that?" Luke asked as he pointed.

Chase blinked, looking down at the red elf-looking thing. "Oh. You can see him too? That's good. Maybe I'm not insane then," he said with a truly relieved expression.

"For the umpteenth time, you are not crazy!" the thing protested. It turned to Luke. "I'm Alan, the Harvest Sprite of Fire!"

Luke stared for a moment. "Harvest Sprite," he said. It wasn't a question. "So, uh…" Luke was trying to figure out how to go with the flow on this one, but it was rather difficult. "Uh… Alan, that's your name, right?" the sprite nodded. "Where are you taking Chase?"

"We're going to the Goddess Spring," Chase replied with a shrug. He appeared to be just as confused as Luke, but he seemed to have accepted it.

"Uh…" Luke just stared at the two for a moment. "Well, I'm coming too," he relented.

"Really?" Alan asked. "That's cool. I always liked you! You're not grumpy like Chase is."

"When it's true, it's true," Chase said, shaking his head. "This has been a _very_ weird day," Chase told Luke.

"I'd say so."

((Author's note: Do you ever have one of those things that you write that absolutely cracks you up after a very tense scene? Yeah, this is that. I can't even find my favorite quote. "Have you been spying on me through stoves?" Or is it the last three lines… I don't even know.))


	8. Part 2: Chapter 2

Part 2: Chapter 2

The three walked down the path that was familiar to Chase, Alan dashing ahead to tell the others that they were _actually coming_. "The others," Chase said numbly. _Well, at least I don't work tonight…_

"Whoa," Luke said when they passed through the final opening between the trees. "This place is just as incredible as I remember!"

Chase sighed, closing his eyes and breathing in the air, feeling as though he was finally home. He continued forward, down the crumbling stone path and across the pool of water, pausing when he saw the five Harvest Sprites gathered around a tall woman with wings.

Luke was still marveling at the sights and only stopped when he bumped into Chase where he stood, staring. Luke followed his gaze, staring at the beautiful woman as well. "Holy guacamole, that's the Harvest Goddess," he said after a moment.

Chase nodded numbly, stunned by the sight of the being depicted on the stained glass window at the church. Perhaps under other circumstances he may have laughed at Luke's choice of words… but he was too busy being confused by the fact that he thought he knew the face from somewhere else. He continued forward, Luke only steps behind.

"Luke can see us too!" they heard Alan telling the goddess enthusiastically, pointing at the two men.

"Eh?" the goddess asked as she looked up with a look of confusion.

"Sorry I tagged along," Luke told her nonchalantly. "I wasn't about to let Chase have _all_ of the adventure today."

"That's perfectly alright, Luke," she told him.

"I'm not sure how I should act around a goddess," Chase muttered more to himself than anyone.

The goddess chuckled in response. "It's not like you haven't spoken to me before; you just didn't know I was actually here and listening."

Chase stared blankly at her for a moment before shaking his head in attempt to clear it. Not only were the day's events overwhelming, but he felt as though he was being drained of energy, like the air around him was eating him away. "So, um… Why exactly did Alan bring me here?" Chase asked, subconsciously putting a hand over his eyes to try to block out the brightness that was suddenly painful with his growing migraine.

The goddess looked concerned. "You're being affected by whatever this is too?" she asked, but when she glanced over her shoulder she gasped as the tree seemed to be recovering before their eyes. She stared in shock. "Wh-what?"

Luke was watching the tree, but his awe turned to concern as he saw Chase almost waving back and forth from apparent pain and exhaustion. "Chase?" Luke asked frantically, trying to steady his friend.

The goddess held up her arm towards the tree, causing the energy that was swirling between it and Chase to cease. "Chase?" the Harvest Goddess asked in equal concern, rushing over as well and helping lower him to the ground.

Sprites now surrounded him as well. "What?" Chase asked, annoyed and drowsy. "I just suddenly have a headache. It's nothing that strange." Well, it was, but he wasn't about to correct it. He slowly looked up and saw the tree. "Uh…" he said as he studied it. It didn't look like new by any means; but many of the leaves had returned, and the aura around it was far less sickly… unlike him.

The goddess sighed in concern. "I promise that Alan didn't bring you here for the tree to leach energy."

"I'm sorry Chase!" Alan apologized frantically. "I didn't know that would happen!"

Chase shrugged and closed his eyes. "What a day," he said quietly, trying to stay conscious.

Luke looked from Chase to the goddess to the tree and back again, trying to figure out what the hell just happened. "Okay, I'm going to be blunt here," he said to the goddess and sprites. "What just happened, and why was Chase the only one affected?"

"What, you don't have the headache of the century too?" Chase asked wearily as he opened one eye long enough to look at Luke before wincing and closing it once more.

"…No," he answered.

"Oh. I don't know whether to say that's good or not fair," Chase said with a sigh.

Luke looked at the goddess, studying her before glancing quickly at his ill friend. "Wait," Luke said, scrutinizing her once more. "You two look kind of alike." He paused. "I mean, not your hair or eye color, but your faces."

The goddess fell silent, but the sprites, enthusiastic and childish, couldn't keep their mouths shut. Ben grinned for a moment. "That's because Chase is her son!" he said before receiving an annoyed glare.

"Do what now?" Chase said, trying to sit up but ending up falling back against Luke.

The Harvest Goddess closed her eyes and sighed. "It's true," she admitted. "I… I'm sorry Chase; I couldn't be there for you, so I did my best to find you a good family and to protect you."

"You know, my head hurts too much for me to even be mad," Chase said simply. "But it would have been nice of you to say something… I'm sure that I'll completely freak out over all of this later."

Luke couldn't help but snort to stop himself from laughing. _This isn't the time to laugh, _he chided himself. "So it wasn't some kind of joke or exaggeration when the old priest used to say that Chase was brought to the church by the Harvest Goddess." He had to stifle another chuckle.

"…No, it wasn't," she said sadly. "But I swear that I did not intend for the tree to take energy from you; if I had known that would happen I wouldn't have let Alan bring you."

"I know," Chase replied. "You're not like that…" He opened his eyes briefly. "Honestly, it's just good to know I'm not insane for believing all of you exist… and that I wasn't completely crazy for feeling like I was talking to my mom when I came here and randomly talked about things."

"Well, I'm glad this was a family reunion then?" Luke said with a confused shrug.

"Regardless," Chase said quietly, "the tree still isn't fully recovered. And I can't do this again." He paused. "I mean, I've gotten minor headaches recently, but nothing this debilitating before now. I'm not sure how I'm going to be able to do anything, even get home, when I can't even stand to have my eyes open."

"You've had headaches?" the goddess asked slowly.

"Yes. Since I came back to Castanet, I've pretty much had a constant dull ache. I figured it was stress," he shrugged.

Luke frowned. "Wait…" he said after a moment. "If the tree gets better, then both of you will feel better, won't you?" Luke asked the goddess.

"Yes," she replied with an air of confusion.

"Then I'm just going to have to figure out how to fix this!" Luke announced. He lacked his usual trademark grin, and there was a tone of seriousness within his voice.

Chase snorted. "Not by yourself you're not," he said.

"Well you're not helping while you're like this," Luke replied. "And you're definitely not going to try and work like this either."

"Normally I would argue," Chase said, leaving the sentence unfinished because the rest was implied.

The sprites for their parts were frantically apologizing and jumping around in attempts to make sense of things. Luke sighed. "Hey, you think it would help Chase if we get him away from here?" he asked the goddess and the sprites.

"…It might," the goddess replied slowly. "It certainly won't make things worse."


	9. Part 2: Chapter 3

Part 2: Chapter 3

It had taken a long time, but Luke managed to get Chase home and safely in bed.

Luke had never been so worried in his life as when he popped his head in the next morning to see Chase still sleeping fitfully, his face still deathly pale. "Chase?" he asked quietly as he walked across the room to check on his boyfriend.

"Let me sleep," Chase mumbled, still not entirely awake. "My head hurts…"

"I'll let you sleep, I just want to make sure you're okay," Luke replied gently.

"Of course I'm not okay, I feel like my head's being split in half," Chase replied grumpily, opening his eyes before immediately closing them to stop the painful sunlight from entering his vision.

Luke frowned. "I'll leave you alone then, I guess…" Luke sighed, leaning over to place a quick kiss on Chase's forehead, halfway hoping that the whole 'kiss it to make it better' thing would actually work. "If you need me, just yell." Chase simply nodded, not bothering to open his eyes or make a sound.

Luke returned to the living room to find that Alan and Collin were standing on the coffee table arguing quietly. "We should just leave them alone!" Alan said quietly to the yellow sprite.

"But we have to do something!" Collin protested. "You have to be feeling how weak Chase is!"

Luke sighed. "What are you guys arguing about?" he asked half-heartedly. He was growing weary at the fact that Chase was suffering; he had been so glad to see a smile on that beautiful face, and now it was replaced by pain.

There was a knock on the door, causing Luke to quickly jump up to answer it and stop the noise. Kathy stood on the front step. "Hey… I just thought I'd come and check on Chase since you said he wasn't coming to work tonight. I had a bad feeling," she explained.

"Oh," Luke said quietly. "Well, he's sick, so I guess your bad feeling was right." He stepped out of the way to let her in.

Just inside the door, Kathy stopped in her tracks, staring at the sprites on the table. "What the hell are those?" she asked with wide eyes.

"She can see us?" Alan asked Collin with an equally confused stare. When she nodded, the red sprite shrugged. "I'm Alan, the Harvest Sprite of fire."

"I'm Collin, the Harvest Sprite of earth," the yellow sprite also introduced himself.

Luke covered his mouth to keep from laughing and waking Chase. "So, uh, yeah. That's what's happening," he told Kathy slowly as the sprites began arguing over whether maybe Kathy could help them too.

"Uh…" she slowly began. "What exactly is going on, then?"

Ben suddenly popped out of nowhere in front of the two other sprites. "You guys! Seriously, stop goofing off!"

"Now there are three?" Kathy asked dully.

Ben looked up at her. "She can see us too?"

"There are actually five of them; there are just three here at the moment," Luke answered with a shrug. He looked at the sprites. "Can I tell her what's going on, or should I keep it a secret or something?"

The three Harvest Sprites shrugged in unison.

Luke took it as an approval and turned to see Kathy looking at him worriedly. "Okay, you're going to think I'm crazy, but keep in mind that you're seeing those guys too."

"Okay… go on."

"So, long story short, apparently nature's off because the Goddess Tree is dying, so Alan came and got Chase for some reason. Chase went up to the Goddess Spring, and I saw him walking by my dad's shop, so I went to see where he was going and ended up seeing Alan." He paused to try to figure out where to go with the story; he sucked at keeping things organized. "So I went with them. When we got to the tree, the thing like absorbed a bunch of Chase's energy or something. Oh, we talked to the Harvest Goddess too; that was a weird one. Apparently she's Chase's mom."

"What?" Kathy asked in shock.

"Yeah, weird, right?" Luke sighed. "Anyway, now Chase has a bad enough headache that he can barely move. I'm trying to figure out some way to fix nature or whatever."

"This is all very…" Kathy began. "Strange? I guess that's the only word I can come up with."

Alan looked up at Kathy. "It's true though," he replied.

0.o.0

_(Flashback)_

_ A young 'student' of a 'professor' of defunct science rushed home to his master. "Professor Malcom!" the young man exclaimed. "You won't believe who, or rather what, just came from out of town for that stupid cooking workshop!"_

_ The eerie man looked up at his slave. "This had better be worthwhile, Brandon; I was in the middle of an important experiment." He gestured at the now shattered crystal ball in front of him._

_ Brandon huffed. "Obviously it is since I burst in like that," he insisted. "I wear that there is a nature spirit in town; a descendent of a Harvest Goddess perhaps. He came from Castanet."_

_ The red headed professor looked up, his weary purple eyes swirling curiously. "Castanet?" Professor Malcom asked slowly. "You mean _that_ Castanet?" the man pointed to a fading map on the wall._

_ "Yep," Brandon replied, his neon blue eyes gleaming. All he wanted to do was please his master._

_ "And what makes you think that this person in related to a Harvest Goddess?" the man asked in an annoyed tone. He hated Castanet with a passion; or rather, he loved the place but hated that he could never return._

_ The student smiled at the question. "His energy; and I'd swear that I saw a strange aura around him briefly." He pulled a photo from his pocket and slowly walked over to the professor._

_ Professor Malcom took the photo in a shaky hand, staring in wonder at the young man that was obviously unaware that his photo was being taken as he glared at a raccoon that had cornered him as if it wanted him to pet it. The man was a spitting image of the goddess he had once loved… Well, she didn't love him, but still… But this young man had red hair, though far lighter than his own, and lavender eyes that seemed to reflect the sunlight even from the distance. He dropped the photo with a gasp. "Tell me, Brandon; do you know this person's name?"_

_ "I heard one of the girls I was talking to call him Chase," Brandon answered as he picked up the photo. "You told me about your encounter with the Harvest Goddess of Castanet when we left… this Chase looks a tiny bit like you, though that could easily be a coincidence… Are you thinking…?"_

_ The professor nodded slowly, looking back at the map of a land where nature had literally chased him away. "Get him to trust you; then bring him here," the professor ordered his servant._

…_._

_ Brandon always returned seeming frustrated, though secretly he was happy. "The more I try to talk to the guy, the ruder he is!" he told his teacher with a sigh of false frustration. "I mean, no one ever ignores me; he told me to stay away."_

_ Malcom grimaced. "Brandon, you know that you can't get to everyone by flirting, right?"_

_ "I wasn't flirting," Brandon protested._

_ Malcom chuckled. Brandon was not human; that was why Malcom had stolen and raised him. Brandon was a spirit of love; a blue bird, a cupid; the names were endless. However, Malcom had raised him to fit his own plans. "Maybe that was the problem."_

_ "No way!" Brandon shook his head and crossed his arms. He refused to use his powers on this person, for he knew how terrible him master's intentions were sure to be._

_ Malcom punched the young man across the face, knocking him to the ground. Brandon protested no further._

_ Regardless, Brandon spent the next eight months pretending to try to gain Chase's trust, always making sure the plan backfired; the chef left before the cooking class was even finished, hopping back onto a boat to leave this city forever. For that, Brandon's punishment had been harsh._

…_._

_ More recently Professor Malcom had discovered a method to drain energy from nature, choosing Castanet for his plan as revenge, through an artifact. Now, he stood in shock as the image of the Goddess Tree was largely revived in front of his eyes. "Brandon?" Malcom called to the blue bird within the cage. "I think Chase went home."_

((Author's note: And there you have it. A villain and minion. Brandon has his own story separate from this one, so… Yeah. Now you have met him.

In the meantime, I swear I am working on _this_ story.))


	10. Part 2: Chapter 4

Part 2 Chapter 4

((Author's note: Sappy chapter is sappy… But I wanted to post something, so here you go.))

0.0.0

Chase lay in a fitful slumber; the pain was simply too much to bear while awake, but even when he slept, it remained. He could almost _feel_ the energy being drained from within. He could almost feel the pain that nature was feeling at any given moment.

In all honesty, he couldn't help but blame himself. If he had gone to visit the Goddess Spring sooner, would things have been different? Would the tree have not been in such dire states that it had to nearly kill him in an attempt to repair itself? But, he tried to give himself the benefit of the doubt as well; it wasn't like he had known that he had any connection to that tree… He had no idea that he was of any importance at all.

Regardless, he heard voices in the other room several times but was unable to bring himself out of bed to investigate. For all he knew, the world could be ending and he wouldn't budge from where he lay desperately trying to find some relief from the pain pounding inside his skull.

Finally, _finally, _Chase managed to drag himself out of bed and out into the living room. Luke sat alone, staring off into space with an uncharacteristic frown painted on his face, with not even Harvest Sprites to keep him company. Chase grimaced at the sight; _why does he have to be so worried?_ But, he sighed. "Sorry I slept so long," he apologized quietly.

Luke's eyes shot up to look at Chase. "Don't worry about it, okay? You're sick. You need to sleep." The smile that he managed didn't hide his anxiety. But, he seemed to at least have a bit of hope left. "Collin came up with an idea that might help your energy recover," Luke told him.

Chase blinked. "And?"

"Moonlight," Luke said with a nod. "Apparently the Harvest Sprites have bells, and Collin's is powered by the moon; so he thought maybe it would help you too." His eyes traveled up to connect with Chase's. "I figure it at least won't hurt anything."

Chase nodded in agreement, somehow managing to not become ensnared in Luke's mesmerizing golden gaze.

…

The pair trekked their way to Moon Hill, glad that it wasn't far from Chase's home and that it was not a festival night. Legends always said that the moon's effect was stronger there, so Luke thought it was a good place to start.

"So Chase," Luke said once they had settled on the hill, glancing over at his boyfriend. As usual, he was left in awe at the way Chase seemed to glow in the moonlight; he had to take a moment to rearrange his thoughts to get back on track. "…If you're a nature spirit or whatever, then why were you always so scared of the woods?"

Chase looked up at Luke, a slight tint of pink to his cheeks; a welcome sight compared to how pale he had been earlier. "You'll think it's stupid."

"Oh, come on, just tell me!" Luke prodded, wanting to keep conversations moving to distract Chase from the pain.

Chase sighed. "I never knew I was a nature spirit, for one thing; and…" he paused, "I never was _actually_ afraid."

Luke was confused. "Then… why?"

"I acted like I was…" Chase blushed darker. "Because I liked when you said you'd protect me." He covered his face slightly in an attempt to disguise his embarrassment. "So since you were always dragging me into the woods, I started to pretend like I was scared… It was completely silly, but I just never stopped doing it."

Luke opened and closed his mouth a few times, his own face beginning to grow hot. "But… you always did that. Like _always._"

"Well…" he muttered, "when I was actually scared around the huge crowds in town that once and you said that for the first time, I just wanted to figure out how to make you say it again. It's stupid and embarrassing… but it made me feel like I actually mattered to you; that I was actually worth protecting."

Luke chuckled, causing Chase to uncover his face long enough to give a half-hearted glare. But the glare was interrupted by a quick kiss. "You're so adorable," Luke said sincerely. "Of course you've always mattered to me." He stared into Chase's lilac eyes for a moment, mesmerized as always.

Chase sighed, leaning his head against Luke's shoulder. He seemed so tired, even now. But it was moments like this, moments of pure comfort and relaxation that he had always dreamed would happen but never thought would. He wrapped an arm around Chase, pulling him closer, and felt like this was where they belonged; as long as they were together, then everything in the universe would simply fall into place.

…

Chase was becoming less exhausted as he bathed in the moonlight. It was only a matter of time now for his strength to return. In the meantime, he hated waiting… but then again, if he could sit here like this with Luke by his side, maybe it would make the wait bearable. He had been such an idiot to have done everything in his power to prevent this from happening. If he was the only one happy it would be a different matter entirely; but Luke was looking at him with pure adoration, smiling softly as he played with his air. It was as if he was completely happy… and that made Chase happy.

"I'll always protect you, Chase; never forget that."

"I just wish I could protect you too…" Chase whispered.

"I'm tough; I don't need protecting!" Luke said with a laugh. "But you would protect me if you needed to; I know that," he said much more calmly.

Chase smiled softly, looking into Luke's amber eyes and getting lost in them once more. _You always believe in me,_ Chase thought to himself. _The least I can do is believe in you._ Yes, in that moment, Chase decided that he would finally believe Luke's words when he said that he was worth something; he believed that Luke loved him, that wasn't the problem… It was more like he hadn't felt worthy of the love; but now, he was going to stop questioning that. Maybe, just _maybe,_ if Luke believed in him it meant that he should believe his words and believe in himself too.

((Author's note: This just sort of happened and it was adorable, so I'm posting it, even though it doesn't progress the story much… _I_ think it's cute, and I enjoyed writing it, so… I should be getting back on track now, I just have about six projects going right now so that I'm always working on _something_.))


	11. Part 2: Chapter 5

((Author's note: Yay for progress!))

Part 2: Chapter 5

0.0.0

On a ferry from a distant city, Professor Malcom stood looking out over the sea, waiting to catch sight of his destination with mixed emotions of fear and excitement in his heart. In his hand was a cage with a bluebird locked tightly within. The bird tried with no avail to escape from his prison, but in this form, his tiny body was too fragile to put much force behind each thud against the door. Professor Malcom glared down at the bird; his 'student' had misbehaved and thus was punished by being in that form. "This is your own fault, you know," the professor quietly told the bird. "You are the one that let Chase get away. Now it is time that we bring him back."

The bird settled on his perch. In knowing his real name, this 'wonderful' and 'remarkable' professor was able to control Brandon; names of magical creatures are the key to manipulation. But luckily for Brandon, Malcom didn't go around spreading his true name. Not many knew that he was a cupid, and even fewer knew his name… Not that either of those facts helped him in his current situation.

Castanet came into view; it was still far-off, but Malcom knew he would be able to approach safely… most likely, anyway. The ocean's currents could change in an instant, possibly preventing his progress; the land of Castanet disliked the professor, and for good reason. The man had found many ways throughout time to leach the energy from the land itself to use for other purposes. People in the city hailed him as a hero, creating miraculous sources of power; but the people did not know nor did they care where the energy had come from. They just stayed comfortably in their air-conditioned homes, away from the heat and away from every way that nature might interrupt their daily lives.

Castanet was the perfect source for such energy. The land still had ties to nature that had long been broken in most of the world. Yes, Castanet was a land where magic still reigned, and Malcom never stopped looking for ways to harness that power. But the land itself had discovered this purpose of his presence; the land itself had chased him away from Castanet decades ago, and now he had regained the arrogance to believe that he could return without repercussions. The ocean's waves remained calm, and Malcom smiled sinisterly as he looked at the cage in which he had placed his 'student', trapped in this helpless form. _He_ would be his protection; the land would never harm a magical creature… surely.

But as the ferry drew near the port, Brandon the bluebird threw himself particularly hard against the door of his cage, breaking the lock and opening the door. After a stunned moment, the bird flew off into the distance leaving Malcom behind to stare where he had gone with an open mouth and a pounding heart. There had been no plan B. He groaned, leaning against the railing of the boat and rubbing his temples in an attempt to formulate a new plan. For one thing, he now had to get Brandon back; to have a cupid under his control was far too useful to simply allow him to escape. This mission had just become far more complicated and he was beginning to question whether he had truly been prepared for this undertaking.

The man had known this was risky enough as it was; he wasn't as young as he used to be, but it was possible that the people of Castanet might remember him from his visit long ago. He had taken precautions for that. He had dyed his hair dark and wore brown contacts, but he knew that the disguise might still fail. He held hope that it would work, if only because he was a far older gentleman these days than he was back then… unfortunately. Perhaps, however, the people of this land would not have a memory powerful enough to remember a time nearly two decades past. Perhaps he would be able to safely slip through the cracks, maybe even stay at the inn if he was lucky enough.

It certainly wasn't as though he couldn't use a fake name. That had already been in the plan. He would ditch the title of professor and the name Malcom in order to simply become Mr. Jones. Sure, it was an extremely generic name, but it would likely be overlooked given that he did not intend to stay for long.

The boat landed at the dock and the man stepped off, thinking about his plans. He would need to find Chase and either convince him to come with him or else he would need to capture him much as he had done to Brandon long ago. With a true nature spirit in hand, perhaps he would not have to leach directly from lands far away to gain use of the energy he desired. Perhaps his job of satisfying the needs of humanity within the cities would be far easier.

0.0.0

The bluebird fluttered weakly into the Goddess Spring, injured from his escape from the cage. The Harvest Sprites looked up; it was a rare occurrence for a true bluebird, a cupid, to be in the area. They usually sent out other blue birds, actual creatures of the avian variety, to spread their messages of love and deliver blue feathers to those who desired them.

Brandon landed in front of the Goddess Tree, finally feeling the relief of no longer carrying himself on injured wings. He shifted into his human form, crouched on the ground in pain. His raven black hair no longer held the luster it usually had, his energy being directed towards healing. His once laser blue eyes were now their natural hue of sky blue, no longer glowing from his powers being manipulated.

Sprites surrounded him, and the Harvest Goddess herself quickly came near in worry. He held up a hand to tell her to stop her approach. Regaining his breath from his frantic flight, he finally managed to speak. "Malcom is here," he quickly said between gasps. "He has come in search of Chase. He wants to control nature himself, to use its energy for his own whims." He tried to stand. "I need to leave here now; he will be searching for me. I just needed to warn you. I don't want him to hurt you again." The cupid fell back to his knees. It was always difficult to switch between bird and human forms, and very painful; his very bones had to change from hollow to solid, from light enough to allow flight to strong enough not to break under a higher weight.

"Rest for a moment," the Harvest Goddess told him calmly. "It won't hurt for you to stay for a short while."

"No, I have to get away," Brandon tried to argue. But he could not change forms that quickly, and he could not limp into town and be caught there. "Okay, _maybe_ I can stay for a _few_ minutes."

"What happened?" Alan the red sprite inquired.

"Malcom has controlled me for a long time; he had me in a cage on the way here, and I broke out. I had to hit the door really hard, given that I was in bird form, to break the lock. It really hurt," Brandon told him. "I swear that man has no compassion. Locking me in a cage? That's really low. I'm not some pet."

The Harvest Goddess frowned in concern. "What name do you go by?" she asked.

"Hmm?" The cupid looked up at her. "I'm Brandon; or at least, like you said, that's what I go by. It's a pleasure to meet you, Harvest Goddess."

"You said you were being held captive?" she asked slowly.

He nodded, reluctant to mention his own problems when there were far more important tasks at hand. "He captured me when I was a child. I don't really remember much from before then." He sighed. "All I know is that he's had me for around twenty years, and I'm sick of doing whatever he tells me." Shaking his head, he continued. "But really; enough about me. This is really a matter of life and death. He has figured out a way to take energy from that tree from as far away as a city." He gestured to the tree, its leaves slowly falling. "And that's how he found out that Chase was here; the tree regained energy so suddenly."

"How did Malcom know about Chase in the first place?" Ben asked worriedly.

"Oh, that?" Brandon said sheepishly. "Well… that one's my fault. Chase came to the city for some kind of cooking class, and I, having been constantly seeking approval, kind of… told Malcom that he was there." He grimaced. "But for what it's worth, I did my best after that point to stop Malcom from getting near him. That's how I ended up in a cage."

Shock showed on each of the sprites' faces; but shock was not blame. "So basically…" Alan started, but stopped himself.

"I was being controlled, essentially," Brandon finished the sprite's thought. On that note, the cupid stood once more. "I have to get out of here now; I know that he will be searching for me, and I don't want to lead him here. I'm going to the Fugue Forest if you need to find me; I know that there are too many animals there for him to be able to follow, since all animals seem to hate him." He frowned. "He's wearing a disguise; he dyed his hair dark and is wearing brown colored contact lenses." Before anyone could respond, Brandon was once again a bluebird, soaring overhead to somewhere to hide.

"We have to help him," Edge said, a serious note in his voice rather than his usual crybaby attitude, making the other sprites jump in surprise before nodding in agreement.

0.0.0

((Author's note: …But helping Brandon is in another story.

Sorry it's taking so long between chapters, and sorry they're shorter than earlier ones. I really don't know why I haven't been able to write as much and it ticks me off.))


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